Selected by the Tigers last winter in the Rule 5 Draft, Reyes had to remain on the active roster the entire season or be offered back to his old club, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Reyes hit a paltry .222/.239/.288 in 219 plate appearances in 2018, but got better as the season went on, playing solid defense in all three outfield positions. He played about a month of winter ball in his native Venezuela to get a few more at-bats, then got to work building his strength.

“I was training hard in Venezuelan and I added 12 or 13 more pounds,” Reyes said in an interview with MLive in Spanish. “With every-day work, without even realizing it I gained a few pounds. Overall, I really wanted to work a little more on my physique. I wanted to improve it. It’s not that I went crazy, but I was training hard every day -- my defense, my speed, my bat, everything.”

He’s gone just 4-for-28 with a double this spring, but was likely ticketed for Toledo regardless of his performance.

“The thing that we know about Victor is he needs at-bats,” said Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire last month. “If we can’t get him everyday at-bats up here, it’s not going to be the right thing for him. He needs everyday at-bats."

The Tigers now have 40 players left in camp, a number that must be cut to 25 in the next two weeks.